Brendan McDaid

A Northern Ireland vet has issued a warning over food bins after a family’s pet was left seriously ill from eating mouldy scraps.

Rocky the dog was treated in intensive care at Campsie Veterinary Centre in Londonderry after suffering repeated seizures after mouldy food from the bins affected his nervous system.

Rocky the dog

Campsie vets’ practice issued an appeal after Rocky was left severely ill after eating the contents of a brown bin.

They have shared a video of the dog via Facebook and, to date, it has has been watched over 240,000 times.

They stated: “Poor Rocky started fitting uncontrollably, out of the blue. Despite huge doses of sedative medications we could barely control the seizures and he ended up having a propofol infusion to stop his fits.

“After vomiting his stomach contents, the cause of Rocky’s seizures became apparent. Copious amounts of mouldy food had been scavenged from the brown food recycling bin which had been left for emptying.

"Two weeks of table scraps had been rotting away and growing mould. The mouldy food contained mycotoxins which have severe effects on the nervous system. Rocky was suffering from tremorgenic mycotoxicosis.